Little Conewago Creek causes big problems

Dover Township officials work with feds to move homes

A man makes his way through flood waters from the rising Conewago Creek on Pine Road near Carlisle Road in Dover Township during a September 2011, flood. Homes in the area were evacuated, a frequent problem for those living along the creek. (File)

The brown, muddied waters of the Little Conewago Creek were lapping up on the side of Tara Bell's home on Pine Road in Dover Township after a rainstorm in late April.

Just upstream, an unclaimed rowboat was lodged in the branches of a low-hanging tree. Bell and her friends joked that the next flood would knock the boat free, making her the next owner.

In years past, Bell said, floods have destroyed belongings of neighbors who live in mobile home units just off the bank of the creek, a tributary that meanders generally southwest from the Susquehanna River. A township supervisor, Matt Menges, said fire crews rescued tenants from their homes last year during a flood.

"The last three years there have been floods every year and everybody that lives alongside this creek has lost pretty much everything they own," Bell said in April. "And they're starting to get used to the floods."

Now, officials in Dover Township are pursuing a project that could help solve the re-occurring issue.

The potential approval of a federally funded program this month could lead to the eventual demolition of homes situated alongside the flood-prone creek, and put an end to what officials say is a public safety issue.

In March, township board of supervisors applied for a hazard mitigation grant program that would fund the acquisition and demolition of six homes on five parcels of land located on Pine Road, which runs parallel to the creek for less than a mile.

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Application to the state-administered program is also an effort by local officials to follow along with federally-mandated floodplain regulations to ensure that the entire township holds onto its floodplain insurance, according to Township Manager Laurel Oswalt.

"We would like to see the situation addressed because it is a public safety issue," Oswalt said.

Two out of a handful of property owners on Pine Road expressed interest in the project, which is completely voluntary, Oswalt said. The owners, who do not live there, have six structures with up to two renters, she said.

"If we were to get funded, then we would have to notify those two property owners of what the appraisal would be [on the homes] and if they would like to move forward," she said.

The township's application will be reviewed this month by the state, according to Thomas Hughes, a state hazard mitigation officer. The application would then proceed to the federal level for final approval.

On a state level, FEMA disaster mitigation funds become available for all counties and municipalities after a presidentially declared disaster, Hughes said in an email.

Dover Township is competing against 22 other municipalities who applied for disaster assistance money, Hughes said.

The project cost would total $344,000 with the bulk of that money being used to purchase the properties, Oswalt said.

According to Oswalt, 75 percent of that money comes from FEMA, 22 percent from the state and 3 percent from the township.

In order to gauge interest among property owners, Oswalt said the township sent letters and surveys to all the owners.

But a poor showing of interest and the difficulty of dealing with a handful of different property owners led to just two owners following through.

"If the area was owned by one or two people instead of several owners, that would have made this a lot easier," Oswalt said.

If approved, the process could take up to a year to complete, Oswalt said.